Project Eight
by ChristyK
Summary: The brothers investigate strange disappearances at a small college
1. Chapter 1

Well here's yet another one of my stupid little fics. Hope you like it.

**Project eight**

"Hey I think I got something here." Sam shouted to his brother who was in the shower.

Dean wrapped a towel around himself and walked out of the bathroom.

"Close by?"

"Yeah, about fifty miles from here."

Dean leaned down and looked at the computer screen.

"A college?"

"Yeah… Seems like three students went missing."

"College students go missing all the time Sam. What does that have to do with us?"

"Well apparently these three were taking a course with the same professor who also went missing. It says here that after the students went missing friends of the students claim to have heard them talking to them even though no one was in the room. Here's a quote from one of them 'I heard Corey talking to me like he was right next to me. I thought he was playing a joke and was hiding in my closet or had a tape recorder in the room but he didn't. I found out later that Corey and two of his friends had been missing all day.'" Sam looked up at Dean. "Could be just her imagination or…."

"Or it could be something right up our alley. Maybe he's dead and his spirit is locked in limbo and is trying to make contact with her…. Hopefully we can send him on his way." Dean gave a little smile. He was itching for another hunt and hanging out with college girls made it even more inviting.

"It also says the professor disappeared the same time the students did."

"Well I say we get some rest tonight and head down there first thing tomorrow."

**The next morning**

They drove for a little over an hour then pulled up at the small college located on the coast of Maryland. Colleges always had people coming on to their campuses and the brothers managed to fit right in. They immediately went to the campus center which appeared to be the hub of activity. They used the guise that Sam was looking to transfer to the college and wanted to check it out. Most of the students in the campus center were gathered around a large TV screen watching the local news. A hurricane was heading in their direction and the students were deciding whether to ride it out there at the college of go home. Dean immediately walked over to a group of pretty girls.

"Hi." He said giving them what he considered to be his most charming smile.

"Hi." They all turned and smiled back at him.

"My brother and I are on campus to try to get a feeling of what the college is like. He's thinking of transferring and we were wondering how you like it here. Would you recommend it?"

"It's a great little college but kind of boring." One of the girls said.

"Well at least it used to be boring before all the cops showed up." Another girl spoke up.

"Cops….why?"

"Sandy's boyfriend and three others went missing a few days ago."

"Missing? What happened?" Dean glanced at Sam, he couldn't believe they were lucky enough to have already had found the girl whose boyfriend had vanished.

"We don't know." Sandy looked up at them as her eyes filled up with tears. "They just disappeared."

"You know I think I read something about that." Sam said stepping forward. "They were all taking the same class I think. What do they think happened?"

"Well the cops are leaning toward the theory that they went on a field trip and were in an accident or something. They think maybe they made a wrong turn at night and went off a bridge into the ocean." Sandy wiped at her tears.

"There are a lot of places where that could happen." Nancy one of the other girls said. "They're always doing construction on the bridges and there are a lot of dangerous turnoffs."

"I heard the professor is missing also…. Dr. …ummm…..I can't remember his name."

"Dr. Morris. He teaches Physics."

"Wouldn't your boyfriend have told you if he was going on a field trip?" Sam asked Sandy.

"He usually does…but we had a fight and…" She put her face in her hands and started to cry. "And now he's missing and he could be dead."

"What was the class about?"

"Morris was trying to prove that he could make a solid object disappear by rearranging the molecular make up of the object. Corey and the others were really into it and he said that Morris was making some great breakthroughs in the area." Nancy said as she put her arm around Sandy trying to comfort her. "Corey said it was a top secret project and that Morris didn't want to release any information about it till he was sure his theories were working properly. The last thing I remember him saying was that Morris had run into some trouble and that he and the others were going to meet with him to see if they could work out the kinks. The next day they disappeared."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews.

**Project Eight**

Chapter two

"So no one heard anything from these students or the professor since they disappeared?" Dean asked.

Nancy looked at Sandy not sure how much she should tell them. Sandy gave a little nod.

"Go ahead tell them."

"Well…it was weird. Sandy and the other two girls whose boyfriends disappeared swore they heard them talking to them."

"I did, I know I did." Sandy said wiping at her tears. "I heard Corey say that something went wrong with the class. I heard him say he was scared and that he didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was going on and I thought he was playing some kind of trick on me and I told him to knock it off." She put her head down as she started crying again. "I was mad because we had had a fight the night before and I told him to leave me alone, to go play his games with someone else. I thought he was hiding somewhere and had a microphone in my room. But later….later I found out that he, Rick, and Kevin were all missing."

"You never heard from him again?"

"A couple of times I thought I heard him but ….he sounded so far away….he kept getting quieter and quieter until…until I finally stopped hearing him at all." She looked back and forth between the brothers. "You must think I'm nuts. You're thinking about transferring here and then you run into some lunatic who tells you there are ghosts on the campus."

"Don't worry; we've heard wilder stories then that before." Sam gave her a smile as he glanced at Dean.

**Later outside the campus center**

"Well what do you think?" Sam asked Dean.

"I think we either got ourselves four spirits that can't move on or…something weird's going on. I think we need to take a look inside this Dr. Morris's classroom."

"Let's head on over to the library, they'll have a catalog there where we can check out Morris's classroom assignments. Hopefully he only worked out of one lab."

They found out Dr. Morris's lab was in room 306 in the Science building and it was the only room he was assigned to use. They were both relieved, at least now they didn't have to search more then one room.

They wanted to get a look at the room so they made their way up to the third floor of the building and to room 306. The door had a yellow 'Do not enter' tape across it. Not wanting to disturb the tape they walked over to Room 308 and noticed it was unlocked. They entered the room then looked out the window. There was a trellis between the two rooms with thick ivy growing on it. If the building was locked after the classes ended this would be the way they'd have to get in.

"Should be easy enough." Dean smiled over at Sam. He had seen the security cameras in the hallway and knew that climbing the trellis at night would be a lot easier then breaking into the building and trying to avoid the cameras.

"The trellis doesn't look that sturdy, I hope it holds us."

"Well I guess we'll find out tonight."

**Later that night **

They stayed at a local motel then waited till two A.M. and headed back to campus. Once there they managed to stay clear of the security car that was making its rounds. They kept to the bushes to avoid the bright security lights that surrounded each of the buildings on campus. Once they got to the trellis Sam climbed up first followed by Dean. He easily picked the lock on the window and slid it open. He climbed in then waited for Dean who climbed in behind him. As soon as Sam had put his foot down in the room he heard a crunching sound. He shined his small penlight at the floor and noticed that it was covered in glass.

"There's glass all over the place." He told Dean.

"Looks like there might have been some kind of stuggle." Dean said as he shined his light around the room making sure to keep the light low to avoid it shining on the windows and attracting attention.

They split up and worked silently as they looked for any kind of journal or notebook that might explain the project Morris was working on.

After about ten minutes of searching Sam saw a dark brown notebook buried beneath some papers. He picked it up and paged through it.

"I think this is it." He whispered to Dean. "He was working on something called Project eight."

Dean walked over and stood next to Sam who turned to the last entry.

"The students are coming over tonight to try the experiment." Sam read. "If this works we will have changed the world as we know it." Sam looked over at Dean. "It ends there."

"Well let's get it back to the motel and look over it. Maybe we can find out where they went or what happened to them."

Just then a beam of light hit the window to the door leading to the hallway.

"Security!" Dean whispered as they both switched off their flashlights.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews.

**Project Eight**

Chapter three

They both hurried to the window. Dean climbed out first but as Sam reached up for the window he slid on the broken glass that had been on the floor and went down hard, a sharp sliver of glass cutting deep into his knee. He winced in pain but quickly got up and climbed out the window. They both made it down and stayed in the dark while they made their way to their car. Dean quickly drove away.

"Damn!" Sam swore as he tried to get a look at his knee.

"What's wrong?" Dean hadn't even noticed that his brother had been limping as they made their escape.

"I cut myself on that broken glass."

Dean glanced down at his brother's leg and could see a dark crimson spot covering a slit in his pants right above his knee.

"How bad is it?"

"I don't know." Sam said as he brushed the broken glass from his pant's leg. "I think there might be a piece of glass stuck in my knee" He looked over at Dean. "I just hope I didn't leave any blood back in the lab." He was pretty certain he hadn't because he had gotten up immediately. If he had bled anywhere it was probably on the trellis.

Dean reached under his seat and pulled out a roll of paper towels. He handed it to his brother who ripped off two sheets and began to mop up the blood that was dripping down the front of his pants. There was nothing else they could do till they got to the motel and got it washed off and cleaned up, then if the cut was deep Dean could stitch it up for him.

**The motel**

Once they got back to the motel Sam limped over to a chair and sat down. He rolled up his pants leg.

Dean had taken the first aide kit out of the car when they had parked and now sat on the floor checking out Sam's leg.

"Boy you really did a job on your knee." Dean said as he removed slivers of glass as gently as he could from Sam's leg. "You got a couple of pieces really embedded in there." Dean removed a sharp tweezers from the kit as he glanced at Sam; he knew this was going to hurt. "Just hold steady."

He stuck the tweezers in some of the cuts and pulled out pieces of glass being careful to cause Sam as little pain as possible. As he withdrew one of the pieces a small amount of blue liquid came out with it.

"What that?" Sam asked.

"I wish I knew." Dean said as he took out some antibiotic ointment and spread it over Sam's knee, he then wrapped a gauze pad over it and taped it in place. He then gave Sam two of the antibiotic pills they always kept on hand. "Well that should take care of any kind of germ you might have picked up."

He looked up at Sam who was already paging through the journal.

"Find anything?" Dean asked.

"No, but this professor was into some real wild stuff."

Dean looked down at the journal but most of the writing seemed to be written in equations and hard to read.

"You can understand that?" Dean looked at Sam.

"Some of it ….This guy had some wild theories."

"Well while you check that out I'll run out and get us something to eat. What do you want?"

"I'll take a burger and a chocolate shake."

"How 'bout a burrito and beer?"

Sam shook his head and smiled.

"Okay. I'll have what ever you're having."

"I'll be right back."

**Forty five minutes later**

Dean came walking in the door whistling as he handed Sam a beer.

"Thanks." Sam said as he popped the cap and took a swallow.

"Find anything out?" Dean asked as he looked down at the journal that Sam had lying on his lap.

"A little."

"Sam…" Dean put his beer down on the table next to Sam as his face wrinkled with disbelief and worry.

"What? What's wrong?" Sam asked seeing the look on his brother's face.

Dean nodded toward Sam's leg, the same leg that had been cut. Sam lifted up the journal then jumped up from the chair. His leg from just above the knee had completely disappeared.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

I appreciate the reviews, thanks.

**Project Eight**

Chapter four

"What the hell's going on Dean?" Sam looked over at his brother who swallowed hard when he saw the fear in Sam's eyes.

"I don't know." Dean reached down and ran his hand through the area below Sam's leg. It was as if there was only air there. Dean looked up at Sam. "That glass you cut yourself with, it must have had something on it."

"What are we going to do?" Sam asked trying to fight back the panic that was building in him.

"Did you find anything in the journal?"

"Morris was working on an experiment, he called it Project eight. He was trying to change the molecular makeup of animals, including humans."

"What?" Dean had no idea what Sam was talking about.

"He was trying to make things invisible to the human eye." Sam put it in simpler terms. He then looked down at his missing leg. "I think he succeeded."

"Invisible…." Dean said as he too looked down at Sam's leg. "How do we reverse it?"

"It says in the journal that he had an antidote that he wanted to try out but it was stolen from his lab and he was in the process of making more. He says he thinks a Dr. Wylie from a neighboring college who apparently was working on the same theories as Morris was jealous that his experiments were actually successful and wanted to take credit for them. He thinks he's the one that stole the antidote."

"Does it say anything in there about what happened to him or the college students?"

"I didn't have time to read it from cover to cover but he seemed to think that if the antidote wasn't given in time the body would continue to dissipate till….till it was gone and couldn't come back…. I think he and the students took or were forced to take a massive dose of the formula then didn't have the antidote and …and they slowly vanished into ….into nothing."

"So they weren't spirits after all, they were humans, just invisible."

"Yeah, and who knows where they are now."

"Sam we got to get back to that lab and find the antidote." Dean started to reach in his pocket for his car keys but Sam grabbed his arm.

"Dean look."

Sam's leg had reappeared.

"What the hell's going on Sam?"

"I don't know, maybe I only got a small dose." Sam said hopefully as he reached down and touched his leg. "It seems fine." He gave Dean a relieved smile.

"What I don't understand is why does your clothes disappear also, I can understand your body, but why your clothes?"

"I don't know….maybe because I was wearing them when I was infected."

"So according to Morris if the antidote isn't given the person just vanishes into nothing, they're lost forever?"

"That was his theory…. He says in his journal that he could make animals invisible to the human eye, that their bodies would still be there only invisible." Sam looked at Dean. "Apparently he could still hear them but just couldn't see them…. But if the antidote wasn't given within a few days they would vanish forever, and there was no way to get them back."

"So the professor and his students are gone but we have no idea where they went….or if they're dead or alive, they're just …gone." Dean shook his head as he thought about it. "That's pretty creepy. They could actually be right in front of us but there's no way of knowing."

"Yeah…sort of like a spirit… but not dead." Sam looked around the motel room trying to imagine what it must be like. "It must be horrible knowing you're still alive but also knowing no one can see, hear, or help you."

"Yeah, I guess it would." Dean glanced over at Sam praying that his little vanishing act was over with and wasn't going to return.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews. I figured I'd stick another chapter on today since I missed yesterday.

**Project eight**

Chapter five

"So what do you want to do?" Sam asked.

"I guess we better get back to Morris's lab and see if we can find the antidote he was working on."

"But wouldn't Morris have already gone back there and gotten the antidote if he had it?"

"You would think so, unless…."

"Unless what?"

"Well unless Morris is dead."

"Dead?"

"Just because he's invisible doesn't mean he can't die."

"Yeah…I guess you're right….But wouldn't his students have gone back and got it?"

"Maybe they didn't know about it. Or maybe…."

"Maybe they're dead too." Sam finished Dean's sentence. "Maybe this formula doesn't only make you invisible but eventually kill you."

"It still wouldn't hurt to find it before they clean up Morris's lab and throw it away. Then we need to find this Wylie fellow and destroy any information he stole from Morris."

Sam looked out the window and could see the wind beginning to rip through the area.

"Looks like the hurricane is getting here sooner then expected."

"Yeah." Dean walked over to the window and watched as the winds grew stronger and the rain began to start. "Let's get back over there and see what we can find. Once it gets light out the place will be crawling with students."

**The College**

They drove past the security office and there didn't seem to be any activity going on there, so hopefully they hadn't been spotted during their last visit to Morris's office.

"You wait here." Dean said to Sam as he started climbing the trellis.

"Why?"

"Sam you got a bad knee, you climb up here you'll only make it worse….Just signal me if anyone comes this way."

"Okay, just keep your eye out for that security guard; he might still be in the building."

"Will do." Dean said as he continued climbing while Sam stepped close to the trellis and out of sight of anyone driving by.

The rain began to come down in sheets and Sam pulled his coat collar up as he tried to stay as dry as possible. But there was no way he could. The wind pushed the rain in all directions and within seconds he was soaked. He kept looking toward the window Dean had crawled into hoping to see him climbing back down.

"Hurry Dean." He whispered to himself. The temperature had dropped and he was soaked and chilled to the bone.

Finally Dean climbed back down.

"I didn't find anything….just a couple of empty bottles marked Project Eight but that was it. Either Morris never got around to making more of the antidote or it could be in a small refrigerator that he had hidden in a closet that had a lock on it. But security was coming down the hall and I had to get out of there before I could pick it."

"Or maybe Wylie has it all, the formula and the antidote." Sam looked around and watched as the winds grew even stronger. "I guess we better get back to the motel and wait out the storm."

"Sam…." Dean said softly.

"What?" Sam looked back at his brother and saw the worried look on his face. "What's the matter?"

Dean nodded towards Sam's leg which had once more vanished but this time both of his legs were gone.

"It's getting worse." Sam looked up at Dean visibly shaken.

"Sam we got to find that antidote…we got to find Wylie's office."

"But the hurricane…."

"Hell with the hurricane. We need to get that antidote in you."

"Dean….I'm scared. … What if we can't find it….or what if it doesn't work?"

"It's going to work Sammy….it's got to."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

I appreciate the reviews, thanks.

**Project Eight**

Chapter six

"What am I going to do if this keeps happening? I can't be seen walking around with half of me invisible." Sam said as he climbed in the car and shut the door.

"Actually if we learned how to control it it could end up being a big help on the job. You could get into places unseen and check out the situation before we go in. … Just think of all the dorm rooms you could check out….. and the sorority houses." Dean said as he gave his brother a little smile trying to lighten the mood, but in fact he was terrified. What if his brother completely disappeared and didn't come back, just like what happened to the professor and his students.

"Yeah." Sam said staring straight ahead and Dean could tell his brother was terrified.

"Sam it's going to be alright…. you'll see. " Dean said trying to reassure him.

"But what if it's not?"

"I'm going to get you out of this mess Sam."

"What if you can't?"

"Hey…when did I ever let you down?"

Sam thought for a few seconds.

"Well there was that one time in Nevada when you…."

"Okay, okay, okay don't remind me….but there were extenuating circumstances."

"There were?" Sam said looking over at Dean for a moment taking his mind off of his problems.

"Yeah."

"If I remember right you were suppose to meet me at the mine shaft at ten, but you were lusting after some hot barmaid and didn't show up till twelve."

"But I did show up." Dean said defending himself.

"Yeah … but not till I had already gone nine rounds with that settler's spirit who almost decapitated me."

"Okay, maybe just that one time….I guess I just got a little distracted."

"And then there was that time in Canada."

Dean thought for a few seconds and then remembered what had happened and it wasn't pretty. Sam almost had to have his jaw wired shut after the beating he took.

"Well that was because we were foreigners. We never should have gone into that bar when a hockey game was on TV."

"If I remember right I think that's what I told you."

"Hey Sam." Dean smiled as he nodded towards Sam legs which had reappeared. "You're back."

"Yeah….yeah I am." Sam gave a relieved smile as he touched his legs.

"Well now that you're with us again I say we find out where this Wylie teaches and head on over there."

"We can go to the library and get a college directory, it'll show which college he teaches at."

They drove to the far end of the campus where the library was located. Dean parked then started to climb out of the car but was stopped by Sam who grabbed his arm.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded toward a security guard who had just come around from the side of the building as he made his rounds.

"It will be light soon, we might as well wait till they open. Why chance getting caught."

"Sam we got to get in there and find his address before you…" Dean didn't continue….he didn't want to think about what was going to happen if they couldn't find Wylie or the antidote.

"Before I completely disappear?" Sam finished Dean's sentence for him. "You can say it Dean…it isn't going to make it happen anytime sooner."

"Like I said before Sam nothing is going to happen. We're finding him and getting the antidote and you'll be fine." Dean prayed that what he said was true.

**Later**

They stayed in the car and waited till the library opened two hours later. They both started to get out of the car but Sam suddenly hesitated.

"You better go in by yourself just in case I start disappearing again…wouldn't want to freak the natives out." Sam said as he sat back in the car. "If they never heard of Wylie ask to see the Who's Who in American Colleges then look up his name. It should list the college where he teaches."

"Sure thing college boy." Dean smiled. "I'll be right back." He turned up his collar against the wind and rain and ran toward the library.

Dean went into the library and got the information he needed. Wylie was working at a small college about twenty miles away. He hurried back to the car and jumped inside. The wind and rain had picked up and the weather was getting worse as the hurricane approached.

"Man it's really getting bad out there." He said as he turned to Sam. The passenger's seat was empty.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews.

**Project Eight **

Chapter seven

Dean stared at the empty seat for a few seconds not wanting to believe what he was seeing. Sam was gone. It took a second for the shock to go away and for his heart to start pounding in his chest.

"Sam! Sammy!" Dean shouted as he ran his hand through the air where his brother had just been sitting less then fifteen minutes ago. "Sammy damn it answer me!" He remembered the boy's girlfriend had said that she could hear him talking to her so Sam should at least be able to answer him. Or was he already completely gone? The thought terrified him. "Sammy!" He shouted again.

The passenger's door suddenly flew open and a soaking wet Sam crawled in.

"What's wrong? I could hear you calling me."

"Where the hell were you?"

"I had to take a leak."

"Damn it Sammy I thought you disappeared!"

"Oh….sorry…."

"Couldn't you have held it? What if you would have disappeared out there in front of people?"

"Dean there's hardly anyone out there and I only went into the lobby. I checked first to make sure no one was there." Sam waved his hand at the empty campus outside. "The weather is getting worse and it's keeping people in."

"Well you should have waited. You scared the hell out of me."

"Look I already said I was sorry Dean. I was only gone a few seconds."

Dean shut his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no reason to jump all over Sam. He was alright and that was all that mattered.

"I'm sorry….just don't go running off like that again."

"Did you get Wylie's address?"

"Yeah he works at a college about twenty miles or so from here."

The brother's conversation was suddenly interrupted by a large branch that slammed down on the hood of the car.

"Damn it! That's going to leave a dent!" Dean said as he watched the branch fall off the car and blow away.

Sam looked out the side window and watched as everything that was light and not nailed down was picked up by the wind and blown away.

"It's getting really nasty out there. I think we better go back to the motel and wait it out."

"We don't have time Sam. We need to get that antidote in you."

Sam looked over at Dean.

"What if it doesn't work? We don't even know for sure that what ever formula he came up with is going to work."

"It's going to work Sam….it's all we have."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"Then we'll find some other way….If there is a way to make you invisible then there has to be away to bring you back." Dean wasn't about to think otherwise.

Sam turned his head and looked out the side window for a few seconds before turning back to Dean.

"I'm scared Dean. We could always see the things we fought or at least we knew how to fight them….but this….this is something new."

Dean put his arm on the back of the seat and looked over at Sam. It broke his heart to see his brother admit he was scared, something they rarely if ever admitted to each other. But the fact was he was scared too but he couldn't let Sam see that, he had to be strong for his little brother. But the thought that his brother might vanish into nothing terrified him. What if they couldn't find the formula? What if they found it but it didn't work? A million questions shot through Dean's mind but he fought back the fear he himself was feeling and gave his brother a reassuring smile.

"Sam it's going to be alright…. If this Morris fellow found a formula to make things invisible I'm sure he found one to reverse the affects. All we have to do is find Wylie and get it from him."

"But the hurricane…."

"Screw the hurricane." Dean said as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Wylie's college. He wasn't about to let a little thing like a hurricane stop him from saving his brother.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

I appreciate the reviews, thanks. I'm going on vacation for a few days and will try to post the next chapter when I get back on Wednesday. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

**Project Eight **

Chapter eight

Dean sped down the streets swerving his car to avoid the debris that was blowing everywhere.

"Whoa!" Sam shouted as he braced himself against the dashboard as Dean slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a street sign that had blown down in front of them. Sam looked over at his brother. "Damn it Dean you're going to get us both killed."

"Sorry, but we got to get there before the storm hits." Dean said as he once more pressed down on the accelerator.

"I think we're a little late, if you haven't noticed the storms already here." Sam looked out at the nearly deserted streets as the rain pounded down on the car and the wind kept trying its best to overturn them.

"We need that formula Sam."

"Not at the price of our lives." Sam said as he once more braced himself as Dean took a corner on two wheels.

Just then a large tree branch fell in front of the car. Dean narrowly missed it as he skidded to a stop then threw the car into reverse.

"Okay that's it! … Damn it Dean the formula isn't worth dying for. We'll track it down after the storm passes."

"We don't have time to wait for it to pass. We need that formula before….well before something happens." He couldn't bring himself to say before Sam disappeared permanently.

"And how is getting ourselves killed going to achieve that?"

"Just hold on." Dean said ignoring Sam as he backed down the street and then sped off down a new one.

Sam just shook his head and held on.

**Later**

After narrowly avoiding numerous accidents and downed trees they arrived in Coatsville, the small town where Wylie's college was. Dean looked over at Sam and grinned.

"See I told you I'd make it."

"Well we haven't made it quite yet." Sam nodded to a police car that had pulled in front of them.

"Oh great…." Dean opened the glove compartment and grabbed one of the multiple IDs he had. He rolled down the window when the officer approached.

"What's the problem officer?" Dean asked as he handed his ID to the officer.

"Didn't you boys hear about the curfew?" The officer looked at the ID then handed it back to Dean.

"No, we just got into town."

"We want everyone off the streets till the storm passes."

"We're only passing through officer."

"Doesn't matter….it's too dangerous to be driving. I need you to park your vehicle and find shelter till the storm is over. If you have no where to go I can drive you to a shelter."

"Actually we're looking for the college."

"It's six blocks south of here." The officer pointed in the direction. "But I want you off the streets. There's a motel across the street or like I said I can take you to a shelter till the storm passes it's …." The officer suddenly stopped talking and leaned down and looked over at Sam. "You okay buddy?"

Sam sat hunched over his face covered in sweat and in obvious pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and winced in pain as he turned his face away from the officer.

Dean looked over at Sam and felt like he had been punched in the stomach. What the hell was going on, Sam had been fine just a minute ago.

"My brother has a bad case of the flu." Dean said looking back at the officer. "I told him he should have stayed home and rested but he insisted on coming with me."

"Your brother looks like he's in a lot of pain, maybe I should take him to the hospital…."

"No…..no I'll be fine." Sam quickly said.

"Okay…but I want you boys off the street."

"Yes officer." Dean rolled up his window as the officer walked away.

"Sammy what the hell's going on?" Dean's face was etched with worry as he put his hand on Sam's shoulder.

"I….I don't know….." Sam managed to get out right before he completely disappeared.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for the reviews; I'm glad you still like the story.

**Project Eight**

Chapter nine

"Sam! Sammy!" Dean shouted at the empty seat. "Damn it Sammy don't you go pulling this shit with me!"

Dean glanced out the window and noticed that the officer must have heard him and started walking back toward their car wondering what was wrong. He quickly put up his hand and gave a little wave indicating that everything was okay as he pulled over to the motel's parking lot. They were lucky, with the heavy rain and paper and debris blowing everywhere the officer didn't notice the empty passenger's seat.

"Sammy!" Dean ran his hand through the air where Sam had been sitting but felt nothing. He could feel himself begin to panic as he realized he had no idea what to do or how to help his brother. It was then he heard a soft moan. "Sam? Sammy?"

"Dean…"

He heard his brother call out to him quietly.

"Sam! …Oh thank God!….You okay?"

"Dean….what happened?...I felt this sharp pain and then I think I passed out." Sam put his head back and shut his eyes.

"You don't know?... Sam…you disappeared…you're gone…"

At Dean's words Sam's eyes flew open and he looked down at himself. He was terrified when he saw nothing.

"Dean!"

Dean could hear the fear in his brother's voice.

"Sam it's going to be alright. We're going to get the antidote and you'll be fine." He said trying to reassure his brother, but in truth he was just as worried as Sam was.

"Dean….if we can't get it….or if it doesn't work….I just need you to know something before…..well before I'm gone…."

"I'm not listening Sam. I don't want to hear any goodbye speech. We're getting the antidote…end of story."

"But Dean…"

"No buts Sam…I want you to stay in the car and I'll go find this Wylie's office."

"I'm going with you."

"Sam…what if you completely disappear like the others did? What if I can't hear you? At least I know you're in the car right now and even if I can't see or hear you I know you're there."

"Two of us can search the office better then one."

"Sam I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. I want you to stay in the car."

Sam wasn't paying attention as he looked down at his hands which were slowly becoming visible again.

"Dean look." He said as he held them up in front of him. Slowly the rest of his body also returned. "I'm back." He said smiling at his brother.

Dean breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's good to have you back."

Sam gave a little laugh.

"Yeah…it's good to be back."

They both looked out the window and could tell that the storm was getting worse. The streets were already flooded and becoming like a wind tunnel with all kinds of debris blowing through them.

"We better leave the car here … we don't want to get in trouble with the cops if they find it gone." Sam said as he turned his collar up and was about to open the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dean asked as he grabbed Sam's jacket.

"To the college." Sam said looking back at his brother. "Why?"

"Sam I think you better stay in the car."

"I'm going with you Dean. The weather's getting worse and I'm not letting you go out there alone."

"Sam what if you turn into Casper again…."

"We'll just have to hope that I don't."

"But what if you do?"

"That girl said she heard her boyfriend for a couple of days. I still have time before….well before anything like that happens."

"I still think you should wait here."

"Dean I'm going with you. If you try to leave without me I'll just follow you."

"Damn it Sammy!" Dean knew they didn't have time to argue. The sooner Sam got the antidote in him the better. "Okay… but stay by my side."

They both opened their doors and stepped out into the blowing wind and pouring rain.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

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**Project Eight**

Chapter ten

They fought their way through the wind and rain then turned into an alley hoping the tall buildings bordering it would block some of the wind. Their clothes clung to their bodies as the rain pelted them unrelentingly.

"Dean this is nuts! We're going to get ourselves killed!" Sam shouted over to Dean who could barely hear him through the wind.

"We got this far Sam we're not stopping now!"

They continued fighting their way up the alley. When one would lose his footing the other would grab him and hold on till they regained it.

"Dean look out!" Sam grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him into a doorway just as a large piece of metal blew by.

"Thanks."

"Dean we got to get inside….it's too dangerous out here."

"Sam we need that antidote…it's only a few more blocks."

"Yeah but it's taking us almost half an hour to walk one block….Dean the college is probably on lockdown anyway."

"Well then Wylie's office should be easy to break into."

"You have an answer for everything don't you?"

"I try." Dean said smiling. "Come on Sam we got to get there before the storm gets worse."

"Gets worse? How can it get any worse? The winds are knocking us off our feet now, it can't get must worse."

"Come on!" Dean grabbed Sam by the arm and pulled him back into the alley. He wasn't about to let his brother talk him out of finding Wylie's office. Once they got the antidote in Sam everything should be alright, at least he hoped so.

They continued toward the college making slow progress. Both of them were soaked to the bone and covered in cuts and bruises from the flying debris. They were forced to hold onto each other the entire way as they attempted to make a united front against the wind. But the wind wasn't ready to yield to their determination. A sudden strong gust separated the brothers and each ended up being blown in different directions.

Dean was lucky and was tossed into a doorway which provided a little shelter from the screaming wind. He looked out and could see Sam trying to hold onto anything that was anchored down but not being successful. And then what he dreaded most happened… Sam vanished again.

"Sam!" Dean left the safety of the doorway and headed in the direction he had last seen his brother. "Sammy!"

"Dean!"

"Sam where are you?" Dean headed toward the sound of his brother's voice. "Sammy!"

"Over here!"

He then heard a cry of pain then nothing.

"Sammy!"

Dean's eyes welled up with tears as he looked around the alley….his brother could be anywhere.

"Sammy!"

It was then he saw the large drops of blood which were quickly washed away by the rain leaving no sign as to where they led. His brother was hurt, and bleeding bad by the amount of blood he had seen.

Dean had never felt this helpless in his life. His brother was lying out there somewhere probably unconscious and hurt and he had no way of finding him. A sudden strong gust of wind knocked him to his knees.

"Sam!" He cried out again.

He never saw the piece of lumber that slammed into him knocking him flat. The last thing he saw was blood pooling near his head before he passed out.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

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**Project Eight**

Chapter eleven

**Later**

Dean moaned as he fought his way back to consciousness. His first thought was of his brother.

"Sam!" He shouted his brother's name as he sprung up on the bed. It was only then that he realized he was in a hospital. He looked around the room praying he'd see his brother sitting on one of the chairs, but he wasn't. He then noticed that the bed next to him was occupied but the occupant had his back to him and his head under the covers. Dean got out of bed then winced in pain as his head began to throb. He steadied himself against a table when the room began to spin then slowly walked over to the bed.

"Sam?" Dean asked as he put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Sammy?" Dean voice was soft and full of fear. What if it wasn't Sam? "Hey come on Sam wake up." Dean gently shook the man's shoulder. He finally rolled over and looked at him…it wasn't Sam.

"What?" The man asked as he looked at Dean annoyed that he had been woken from his sleep.

"Nothing." Dean said as he walked back to his bed trying to remember all that had happened. He remembered being in the alley with Sam during the storm and then…. It suddenly came to him…. Sam had vanished! His brother was out there somewhere hurt and alone in the storm. He looked down at himself and realized he was wearing a hospital gown. He hurried over to the closet then leaned against the door when he was overcome by a dizzy feeling.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

Dean turned around to see a nurse standing behind him.

"I got to get out of here."

"You took a nasty blow to your head young man; you need to get back in bed." She grabbed his arm and started leading him back to bed.

"My brother…is he here?"

"You were found alone in an alley by a police officer. There was no on else there."

Dean pulled away from her.

"My brother's out there in the storm. I got to find him."

"The police are cruising the area, if your brother is out there they'll find him."

"No….no you don't understand…." Dean knew his brother had vanished ….there would be no one to find. "I got to find him myself…he could be hurt."

"If he's hurt the officers will find him and bring him in. There's really nothing you can do. The police have a curfew out and no one is allowed on the streets except emergency workers."

"Listen lady…my brother is out there and no one is going to stop me from finding him."

"I know you're concerned about your brother but if you go out there they'll arrest you."

"That's the chance I'll have to take." Dean went back to the closet and started grabbing his clothes which had been washed and dried while he was unconscious.

"I wish you'd reconsider…you might have a concussion, you took a hard blow to your head."

"I got to find him…he's all I have left." Dean started to get dressed. "Now if I could have a little privacy…."

"Well I need you to sign a release form."

"Sure, go get it." Dean said as he continued getting dressed.

**Later**

Dean signed the release forms then got directions to the alley in which he was found. The storm had died down a little and he made it to the alley in a little over half an hour. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked up and down the alley and saw no signs of Sam. He walked up and down the alley looking behind the rubble frantically calling for his brother.

"Sam! Sam! …Damn it answer me Sammy!"

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Sam could be lying anywhere hurt or even dead and he had no way of finding him.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

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**Project Eight**

Chapter twelve

Dean continued searching the alley over and over even though he knew it was hopeless. He took out his cell phone and punched in Sam's number.

"Please Sammy pick up." He pleaded into the unanswered phone. He even dialed the motel room hoping maybe Sam had returned there. But there was no answer.

He sat down with his back to the wall in total defeat.

"Sammy…." He said softly. It was then he noticed the small pool of blood beneath a dumpster. "Sam!"

He jumped up and pushed the dumpster to the side. He then knelt down next to the blood and touched it.

"Sam?….Sammy?..."

His brother could be lying unconscious right in front of him bleeding to death and he wouldn't even know it.

"Sammy if you're here you got to wake up… you got to talk to me." He ran his hand through the empty air. "Sammy please…I don't know what to do…." He said as his eyes filled up with tears of frustration and worry.

"Hey buddy!" A voice broke the silence. An officer came walking down the alley toward him. "We had a report that you left the hospital even though you were warned that there was a curfew out."

"I have to find my brother." Dean said standing up.

"And did you?"

"No…no I can't find him but I know he's out here."

"I need you to come with me."

"I can't….not till I find my brother."

"I'm sorry but you have no choice. No one is allowed on the streets till we declare it safe."

"You don't understand, my brother could be lying somewhere hurt …or worse."

"If your brother is out here we'll find him. Now I need you to either go back to the hospital or…."

"I can't…." Dean started to walk away but the officer grabbed his arm.

"Now listen buddy…. I can't let you stay out here. Either you go back to the hospital or I'll have to run you in. It's your choice."

"I'm not going anywhere until I find my brother!" Dean pulled his arm away but the quick movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through his head. He staggered a little and went down to one knee.

"Come on…." The officer helped Dean up. "The hospital said you might have a concussion and for your own good I'm going to put you in protective custody."

"No! I got to find Sam!" Dean tried to pull away but the exertion was too much for him. His whole world started spinning as he collapsed to his knees and gave into the darkness.

**Later at the hospital**

Dean wasn't sure how long he had been out but when he woke up and tried to move he found that he had been handcuffed to the hospital bed.

"It's just a precaution." The same nurse who had talked to him earlier said as she sat by his bed. "The officer said you were combative and gave him a little trouble."

"You got to let me go….My brother is out there hurt somewhere."

"The streets aren't safe. There are downed wires and flooding over most of the city. Not to mention the looters who always seem to appear during a disaster."

"Please I got to find Sam."

"I'm sorry honey but the officer put you in protective custody. He wants you held for your own good."

"You don't understand Sam is…."

The door to Dean's room opened and the officer who had brought him in walked in.

"How're you doing?" He asked looking down at Dean.

"I'd be a lot better if I was out on the street looking for my brother."

"Describe your brother to me."

"He's about six four…long brown hair…thin…"

The expression on the officer's face suddenly changed.

"We just brought someone in like that."

"Well that's great! Can I see him?...Is he hurt?"

"I'm sorry…. The man we brought in was dead on arrival."

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

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**Project Eight**

Chapter thirteen

Dead! For a few seconds Dean couldn't speak, he felt like he had been stabbed in the heart. Sam dead? It couldn't be, not Sam, not his brother.

"Where did you find this guy?" Dean finally asked praying the cop would say somewhere across town pretty much ruling out the possibility it was Sam.

"In the street near the alley we found you in. It looks like he got caught in the storm and was hit by falling debris. … He was wearing a brown jacket and jeans…long dark hair…about mid twenties, maybe younger." The officer began describing the body.

Tears filled Dean's eyes…he was describing his brother.

"I need to see him."

"He's pretty beat up." The officer warned him. "It's going to be hard to look at him….Maybe you better wait till they clean him up."

"I need to see him… I need to know…I need to know now." As much as Dean dreaded seeing the body he had to know if it was Sam.

The officer looked over at the nurse.

"I'll need a wheelchair."

"I don't need a wheelchair….just uncuff me." Dean held up his cuffed arm.

"I'm sorry but its hospital policy. Besides, if I take you down there and if it is your brother I don't need you passing out on me and injuring yourself further.

"Okay…just get me down there."

The thought of Sam lying alone and dead in the morgue was ripping Dean apart. He had to be with his brother…dead or alive.

**The morgue**

The officer wheeled Dean into the morgue.

"We need to see the young man who was just brought in." He said to the doctor who was in charge of the morgue.

"The body was just brought in a few minutes ago. We haven't had chance to examine him yet."

"This man might be the boy's brother. He's going to try to see if he can identity him."

The doctor looked at Dean. He had been through this numerous times and it never got any easier.

"The body's in pretty bad shape….really banged up."

"I already warned him." The officer said.

"Okay…right this way."

The officer pushed Dean in the chair as he followed the doctor. They were led over to a table where a body lay covered by a bloody sheet.

Dean could feel his whole body start to tremble as he looked at the sheet covered body. It was all his fault he thought. Sam kept warning him about the storm but he wouldn't listen. Now his brother could by lying dead beneath that sheet because of him. How could he live with himself knowing he was the cause of his brother's death? He had tried to protect Sam all his life and now instead of protecting him he might have caused his death. If this body was Sam then he didn't want to live. How could he? His mom, his dad and now possibly Sam were all gone. His dad had died to save him and now Sam had died because of him. No …. he told himself, he wasn't going to live without him. He could feel his body turn to ice as the doctor grabbed the top of the sheet and looked at him.

"You ready?" The doctor asked.

He could only nod.

The doctor pulled back the sheet and the first thing Dean saw was the long dark hair matted with dry blood.

"Sam…." Dean's lower lip trembled as he looked at the body in front of him.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks for the reviews. Happy Halloween everybody!!!!! Now if only we could find the Winchesters in our trick or treat bags………

**Project Eight**

Chapter fourteen

Dean reached out and gently turned the man's face toward him. He could have passed for Sam's double but it wasn't him.

"Oh thank God." He said as he breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not my brother." He was happy for himself but also sad for whose ever brother or son it was. But it also meant that Sam was still somewhere out there, dead or alive he had no way of knowing.

The officer placed his hand on Dean's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Don't worry we'll find your brother. He's probably hold up somewhere and is worrying about you as much as you're worrying about him."

"Probably." Dean gave the officer a small smile hoping what he said was true. Sam had disappeared before and came back, so maybe he was already visible and was wondering where he was.

"Well by tomorrow morning the curfew should be off and you can hopefully meet up with your brother. But for now let's get you back to your room."

**Dean's room**

The officer removed Dean's handcuffs after he promised he would stay in the hospital at least till morning. There was no reason not to because he had no idea where to look for Sam. A horrible loneliness came over him at the thought that he might never see his brother again. What if Sam was out there completely gone like the professor and the students? Gone, but still being able to see everything going on around him but not being able to communicate. The thought made him sick.

"Sammy? Sammy if you're here…I just want you to know I'm going to find that antidote and maybe there's someway you can take it. If you're here…I need you to just stay with me."

Dean blinked back tears. He'd give anything to have his brother sitting here beside him.

**Later**

Dean fell into a restless sleep and suddenly woke up three hours later. He quickly sat up. It was light out and there was nothing now to keep him from looking for Sam. He started to get out of bed.

"What's the hurry?" A voice came from the corner of the room.

It couldn't be Dean thought. He looked toward the voice and saw Sam sitting on a chair in the corner.

"Sammy!" Dean jumped out of bed and went to his brother side. Sam was filthy and covered in bruises and cuts but he was alive. "Oh God Sammy it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." Sam smiled.

"What the hell happened? I saw the blood but I couldn't find you."

"I can't remember much….I remember getting blown down the alley and the next thing I knew I woke up and you were gone and I was invisible. I looked all over for you then decided to check the hospital and I finally found you…. About an hour or so ago I suddenly just reappeared."

"Did anyone see you?"

"No. The nurse was in here about two hours ago checking on you but I was still invisible."

Dean sat down on a chair next to his brother.

"You scared me half to death. I didn't know if you were alive or dead or how to even find you." He looked at his brother. "Sam while you were invisible did you see the professor or the students?"

"No." He said sadly. "I hoped maybe I would but…" He shook his head. "…I didn't. I think they just…dissipated into nothing."

Dean looked at his brother but tried to hide his worry, he knew the same thing could happen to him.

"We got to find that antidote Sam…We got to get it in you."

"Well first I got to get cleaned up." Sam stood up but then swayed a little and quickly sat back down.

"Sammy…what's wrong?"

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

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**Project Eight**

Chapter fifteen

"Sammy what's going on?" Dean asked as he helped his brother sit back down terrified that Sam was going to vanish again.

"It's okay…." Sam reassured his brother. "I guess I just took more of a beating by the storm then I thought."

"Where do you hurt?"

Sam gave a little laugh.

"Maybe it would be easier to ask where I don't hurt."

"We better have someone check you out." Dean stood up and started heading toward the door to summon a nurse.

"Dean no!"

"Why not?"

"What if I disappear in front of her? We don't want to get anyone else involved in this."

"But you could be hurt Sam."

"I'll be fine…I'm just feel a little dizzy."

Dean tried not to show his concern. Was being dizzy one of the signs that happened right before you disappeared forever? He had no way of knowing but he didn't want his brother to worry about it, he'd worry about it enough for both of them.

"Let's get out of here. We'll go back to the motel and get you cleaned up then we'll find Wylie's office."

They started heading toward the door but it opened before they got there, the nurse who had been with Dean earlier walked in.

"Oh I see you found your brother." She said smiling at the two of them.

"Well he kinda found me."

She walked toward Sam and put her hand up to his face.

"You looked pretty banged up. I'll get a doctor to check you out." She then started to turn but Sam grabbed her arm.

"Thanks… but I'll be fine."

"Honey some of those cuts look pretty deep and might get infected."

"He'll be okay…I'll get him back to the motel and cleaned up. Don't worry I'll bring him back in if anything looks like it might need stitches." Dean quickly spoke up. He knew they had to get going before Sam disappeared again.

"Okay, but just be sure you do that…..I'll write up some new release papers and have them at the front desk. Just be sure to sign them before you leave." She smiled at Dean. "I'm so glad you found your brother and that's he's okay."

"Thanks."

"Well you boys take care." She said before leaving the room.

"Let's get out of here." Dean said as he once more headed for the door. All he wanted was to get Sam cleaned up and to find the antidote.

**The motel**

"Hurry up in there." Dean shouted toward the bathroom door. The shower had been running for the last twenty minutes and Dean wanted to get moving, the sooner they got the antidote in Sam the better. "Come on Sam let's go!"

Dean swallowed hard when he didn't get an answer. Had Sam disappeared again?

"Sammy? Sam you okay in there?"

He walked over to the door and knocked.

"Sam? … Damn it Sam answer me!"

When Sam still didn't answer him he walked in. Sam was on the floor with a towel wrapped around his wet body, his head hanging over the toilet. When Dean walked in Sam quickly flushed it, but not before Dean saw that the bowl was full of blood.

"Sam what's going on?" He asked as his heart pounded in his chest.

Sam didn't answer, instead he leaned back against the wall as he ran his hand across his bloody mouth leaving a streak across his cheek.

"Sammy?" Dean hurried to his brother's side and knelt down beside him.

"Dean….I'm…I'm sorry." Sam managed to get out before he started to slump to the floor. His last conscious thought was that he was dying and Dean would now be on his own.

"Sam!" Dean screamed as he grabbed his brother just before Sam's head would have hit the tub.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

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**Project Eight**

Chapter sixteen

Dean held his brother close to him.

"Sammy?...Sam?..." He took a washcloth and wiped the blood from his brother's face. "What the hell's going on?" He said more to himself then to Sam who was only semi conscious. Was Sam bleeding because of the beating he took in the storm? Or was this what happened to the others right before they vanished for good. Dean was terrified. Was Sam going to vanish into nothing? "Sammy…come on bro answer me."

Sam finally moaned as he started coming around.

"Dean?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"You tell me."

Dean gently helped Sam sit against the wall.

"I…I don't know…I took a shower then …then I got this really bad pain in my stomach and…." Sam pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to remember.

"You threw up blood Sam."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

Sam rubbed his hand across his stomach.

"I feel okay now."

"Sam, I need to get you to a doctor."

"We can't. What if I vanish in front of them? How are we going to explain that?"

"We'll just tell them the truth. We have the kids back at the college to back us up."

"We can't let this formula get into the wrong hands. Can't you imagine what would happen if enemies of our country got hold of it? We got to destroy it Dean and the only way we can do that is if no one else knows about it."

"But you're bleeding Sam…. You might have internal injuries."

"I'll get checked out after we get the antidote."

"If you start bleeding like you were…you could bleed to death before we get the stuff." Dean had only gotten a glimpse of the blood in the bowl but he had seen enough to know Sam needed help.

"Dean I'm okay…I feel fine right now….I really do. Let's just get the stuff and end this thing once and for all."

Dean didn't like the idea of Sam not seeing a doctor right away but he understood where he was coming from. His brother was right; if Wylie had the antidote he probably also had some of the formula and they had to get it before Wylie decided to sell it to the highest bidder. Plus they had to get the antidote in Sam as soon as possible. Going to the doctor and getting checked out would only further delay it.

"Okay." Dean gave in. "But if you start bleeding like that again I'm taking you to the doctor …formula or no formula."

Sam knew better then to argue with Dean, he knew he'd get no where.

"Give me a minute to get dressed then we'll get moving."

**An hour later**

They pulled into a small parking lot at the Madison College of the Sciences and parked in one of the few spots that didn't have broken tree limbs or wires lying on it. They then climbed into jumpsuits with the words Keystone Electric on the back of them then took ID cards out of the glove compartment and pinned them on their jackets. They then got out of the car and took a tool box out of the trunk. They looked around the lot and finally they saw a sign pointing to a map of the college. They were in luck, the post holding the map had been blown down but the map was still attached to it. Dean lifted the post up while Sam studied the map. The map showed each of the buildings on campus and the location of the various professors' labs. Within a few seconds they located Wylie's lab.

"Let's just hope he has the antidote in the lab and didn't take it home with him." Sam said as they headed for the building.

Dean didn't want to even think of that possibility. If Wylie didn't have the antidote in the lab they would be forced to track him to his house and search there. He knew it would be twice as hard to get in Wylie's house as it was to walk on a college campus relatively unnoticed, plus time was running out. He had no idea when Sam would vanish for good.

They walked up the steps of the building then headed for Wylie's lab on the second floor. Dean had just pulled out his lock pick when they heard someone behind them.

"May I help you?"

They turned and looked into the face of a campus security guard.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

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**Project Eight**

Chapter seventeen

"Hi." Dean broke into a big smile. "That was some storm we had yesterday wasn't it?"

Both brothers tried to act as casual as possible, not like two men about to break into an office.

"Yeah it was….What are you two doing here?"

"Fixing the electric….wires are down everywhere."

"Keystone Electric?" The guard read the names on their ID cards. "I never heard of it."

"We're not from your county." Sam said quickly. "The storm hit you guys worse then us so they called us in to give you a hand."

"Yeah we did get hit pretty bad, the whole campus is without electric, half the town is too."

"Well we were told to work on the second floor of this building; another crew is doing the other floors."

"Okay but be careful there's a lot of windows blown out and a lot of glass in the rooms."

"We will be. We just need to check the wiring and replace any that are damaged."

"Okay I'll be sure and check in with …." The guard stopped talking and looked at Sam. "You okay buddy?"

Sam's nose had suddenly started to bleed and he wiped at it with the back of his hand then glanced over at Dean and could see the worry on his face.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine….just a little …umm sinus problem." He said as he took a tissue out of his pocket and held it up to his nose.

"You should get that looked at, you might have a sinus infection. Couple of antibiotics should clear it right up."

"Thanks. When I'm done here I'll have it checked out."

The security nodded then walked away.

"Sam you okay?" Dean asked as he put his hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Yeah…" Sam didn't want to worry Dean but the pain in his stomach was coming back. "Let's just get in there and find that antidote."

Dean quickly picked the lock and they entered Wylie's lab. The place was a mess, all of the windows had been broken and there was glass and tree branches all over the floor, plus broken test-tubes and other equipment from the lab.

"Damn it!" Dean swore softly. He knew it was going to take a lot longer then they expected to search the place. He looked over at his brother who had his arm across his stomach. "You okay Sam?"

"Yeah." He gave a nervous laugh. "Just peachy." In truth he was scared to death. Last time he had pain in his stomach he had thrown up blood. He also knew time was running out….sooner or later he was going to vanish and not come back.

"Sam we're going to find the antidote." Dean tried to reassure his brother.

"Dean …if we don't…." Sam started to say but his brother interrupted him.

"We're finding the antidote Sam and I don't want to hear anything different." Dean turned to his brother. "Sam…if you vanish again…and …and don't come back….I need you to stay with me. I'm going to find that antidote and maybe there will be some way you can take it. Even if I can't see you I want you to stay with me…do you understand?"

"Yeah." Sam said not looking at his brother; he didn't want him to see how frightened he really was. What if he vanished and was lost in some kind of limbo forever? What if he couldn't even see his brother so there would be no way of staying with him? What if he couldn't see anything? What if he disappeared and was never seen again, just like the professor and the students? There were so many 'what ifs'. He tried to fight back his fear but it had a hold on him and wouldn't let go.

**Later**

Sam kept swallowing the blood that started filling his mouth not wanting Dean to see it and worry. But finally he started to gag on it and quickly leaned over a wastebasket.

"Sam?" Dean said walking over and putting his hand on his brother's back.

"Sorry…" Sam managed to get out.

"There's nothing to be sorry about Sam."

"If I hadn't been careless and cut myself none of this would be happening."

"That wasn't your fault Sam. I could have just as easily slipped on the glass myself."

"Dean…I need you to know something…just in case…"

"Sam I told you I don't want to hear it."

"I need you to know…well …I need you to know that…that I couldn't have asked for a better brother…. I just need you to know that in case something …well in case something happens to me." Sam looked away embarrassed by his show of emotion. Both he and Dean never showed their feelings for each other.

"Damn it Sammy you know I'm not into all this touchy feeling stuff…." Dean told his brother pretending to be annoyed but in truth he wanted so much to tell his brother the same thing but his pride prevented him from doing it. Instead he looked around the office and changed the subject. "We checked everywhere Sam….It's not here….He must have it at home."

Dean walked over to a college directory that was lying on the floor. He picked up the water-logged book and looked up Wylie's home address.

"Come on Sam…"

He waited till Sam walked out in front of him then followed. He was terrified that if he didn't have Sam in view at all times he would turn around and he wouldn't be there. He blinked back tears as he followed his brother…tears of fear and hopelessness….that he didn't want his brother to see.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

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**Project Eight**

Chapter eighteen

They drove to Wylie's house and parked across the street, then Dean pulled out his cell phone and called the house but there was no answer.

"Looks like no one's home." He told his brother as he put the phone back in his pocket. "That should make things a little easier." At least he hoped so. With Wylie gone they could now take their time looking for the antidote.

They started to get out of the car but when Sam stood up he winced in pain and leaned against the door.

"You okay Sammy?"

Normally if Sam was hurt or not feeling well Dean would tell him to wait in the car, but there was no way he was going to let his brother out of his sight, no way.

"Yeah…just give me a minute." Sam said as waited for the pain to subside. Within a few seconds he nodded his head, the pain was still there but at least now it was manageable. "Okay let's go."

**Wylie's home**

They stepped over the debris that littered Wylie's front yard then Dean easily picked the lock and they entered the house.

They began searching the house looking for any sign of the antidote. After searching upstairs they headed for the basement and saw a door in one corners of the basement that had a padlock on it. Dean easily picked the lock and they entered. The storm had knocked out the electric so they switched on their flashlights. As soon as they saw the room they were sure they were in the right place. The place was littered with books about different chemical and biological procedures. They were careful to put everything back where they found it so hopefully no one would know they had been there. After searching for twenty minutes Dean was getting frustrated and slammed his hand down hard on a desk.

"It has to be here." He said as he began tossing things around in anger not caring what kind of mess he made.

"Maybe he doesn't have it ….maybe Morris just thought he took it."

"Damn it Sam this is all we have to go on!" He said as he tossed a book across the room. He knew if Wylie didn't have the antidote Sam was doomed.

It was then they saw the shadow. Both boys spun toward the door but it was too late. Wylie stood in the doorway pointing a gun at them.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" He asked as he switched the gun back and forth between the brothers.

Dean instinctively took a step forward stepping protectively in front of Sam.

"Is your name Wylie?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"We know about you and Morris." He figured he might as well come right out and say it rather then beating around the bush. "We need the antidote."

"I don't know what you're talking about…What antidote?" Wylie looked at the boys suspiciously.

"Morris wrote in his journal that you had taken his antidote….And we're here to get it back."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Dean glanced over at Sam, Wylie sounded almost sincere, but Dean had learned long ago not to trust anyone outside of his family.

"You're a professor of biology aren't you?" When Wylie nodded Dean continued. "Morris said in his journal that you had stolen his antidote and probably his formula…My brother needs that antidote, and he needs it now."

"I'm sorry if his antidote is missing but I didn't take it."

"So you admit you know about his experiment?"

"Yeah I knew about it. Morris and I used to be friends until…"

"Until what?"

"Until I found out he was screwing my wife." He said angrily. "He admitted it to me….. He said she came to his house one night and it just happened….I wanted to kill both of them."

"So you got back at Morris by stealing his formula?"

"I told you I didn't take it. The affair lasted about a month but Morris broke it off. He told my wife he felt guilty…that we were friends and he just couldn't do it anymore….She came home that night and told me she wanted us both dead, me because I was going after custody of the kids and him because he had rejected her. If you're looking for the antidote I think you're looking in the wrong place. If anyone took it, it was that psycho wife of mine."

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

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**Project Eight **

Chapter nineteen

"Where is she?"

"Why should I tell you? Who the hell are you two anyway?" Wylie looked suspiciously at the brothers.

"That's really not important right now…The important thing is my brother needs that antidote before…well before something happens to him." Dean couldn't bring himself to say before he vanished forever.

"Your brother took the formula?"

"Well he didn't exactly take it….he stepped on some glass that must have had some of the formula on it and got infected."

Wylie wasn't sure whether to believe them or not. They seemed to know about Morris's experiment but he still wasn't sure they weren't just there to rob him.

"Maybe I should call the cops and you can tell them your story."

"Look…" Dean took a few steps closer to Wylie but kept his hands up. "I'm sorry we broke into your house but we had no choice. You weren't home and we had reason to believe you had the antidote. … My brother is sick…and he needs the antidote, we had no choice but to try and find it."

"I still think this is a police matter." Wylie said as he reached in his pocket for his cell phone but before he could pull it out Dean spun around and kicked the gun out of his hand. Dean quickly picked it up but pointed it at the floor to try and show him they meant him no harm.

"Sorry, but the cops will only ask a million questions and we don't have time to answer them." Dean took the bullets out of the gun and handed it back to Wylie. "I swear we weren't here to rob you….I only want to help my brother."

Wylie looked into Dean's eyes and could clearly see the worry for his brother in them.

"For some reason I believe you." He motioned for them to follow him. "Let's go upstairs."

Once they were upstairs Wylie wrote down the address of his wife and gave them directions on how to find it. He looked at Sam and could see he wasn't feeling well.

"I hope she has the antidote. It would be like her to take it to get back at Morris for rejecting her and then to try to pin it on me." He then looked at Dean. "Good luck, I hope you find it in time."

"Thanks." Dean glanced over at Sam who was trying to hide how bad he was feeling. "Let's go." He said as he waited for Sam to walk out first.

They both climbed into the car and Dean followed the directions Wylie had given them. Sam slumped down in the car and put his head on the back of the seat. Everything was starting to spin and he wasn't sure if it was from the beating he took from the hurricane or from Morris's formula.

"You hang in there Sam…Don't you go disappearing on me." Dean said as he looked over at his brother.

"I'll try Dean…I'll try…." Sam could taste the blood in his mouth as a sharp pain shot through him.

Dean sped down the streets toward Wylie's wife's house carefully avoiding the debris that littered the area. He knew time was running out and he had to get the antidote in Sam as soon as possible. He glanced over at his brother and could swear he saw him start to vanish then reappear immediately. He began to think he was just imagining it, that it was just the stress from the last few days, but when he heard Sam begin to moan and cough up blood an icy chill shot through him.

"Sam? Sammy you okay?"

"Dean…." Sam glanced over at his brother and Dean winced when he saw the fear in his brother's eyes. "Oh God Dean it hurts….." Sam moaned as he doubled over in pain.

"Sammy? … Sammy!..." Dean put his hand on Sam's back trying to comfort him. "Hang in there Sammy we're almost there."

"Dean!" Sam cried out his face twisted in agony.

Dean then watched in horror as Sam's body once more completely vanished.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

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**Project Eight**

Chapter twenty

Dean jammed on his brakes.

"Sam? Sammy?...Sammy talk to me!….." Dean's heart was pounding in his chest as he ran his hand through the open air where Sam had just been sitting. "Come on Sammy… please….talk to me….."

"Dean…." Sam's voice came from the passenger's seat.

"Thank God…. I thought…."

"Dean … Dean I'm scared…. I feel lousy and …and I don't know if I can make it back this time…"

"You just stay with me Sammy…once we get the antidote in you you'll be fine." Dean prayed that was true. What if the antidote didn't work? He had no way of knowing if it had even been testing on anybody. "And Sam…."

"Yeah."

"If for some reason you can't talk to me …just stay with me….don't wander off on your own." Dean was terrified that if Sam was no longer able to communicate with him he'd wander off and he'd never see him again. He needed to know that if Sam couldn't talk at least he'd still be there with him.

Dean pressed the accelerator down and sped down the street.

"Sam just keep talking to me…let me know you're still there."

"What am I suppose to say?"

"I don't give a damn what you say….just count if you don't know what to say….just keep talking."

Sam talked as they drove but his voice kept sounding further and further away which terrified Dean. Was Sammy slowly fading into nothingness?

Finally they pulled up at Wylie's wife's house.

"Dean…"

Sam sounded scared.

"What?"

"I see them Dean….I think I see the professor and his students…." Sam could see four bodies lying on the grass in front of the house. He stepped out of the car and walked over to them.

"Sam? Sammy? Damn it Sammy where are you?" Dean had no idea if his brother was still in the car or not.

"I'm out here."

Dean could hear his brother's voice coming from outside the car.

"Damn it Sam I told you to stay with me." Dean climbed out of the car and walked toward where he thought the voice had come from. "Sam?"

"Yeah I'm right here."

"What's going on Sam? What do you see?"

Sam knelt down next to the bodies and examined them. He then slowly stood up.

"Sam? Sammy what the hell's going on? Damn it Sam answer me!"

"They're dead Dean…They're all dead." Sam said softly.

The professor and his students must have completely disappeared from sight and sound, then with no way of getting back to the real world they had died, from what, Sam had no way of knowing. Unable to materialize maybe they had simply starved to death or died of thirst. The thought of being completely alone, unable to communicate with anyone but still being able to watch what was going on terrified Sam. What if what happened to them happened to him? What if soon Dean didn't even know he was around? What if he ended up following Dean but not able to talk to him or help him until….well until he ended up dead just like the professor and his students? A horrible loneliness came over him. At least the professor and his students had each other and weren't alone at the end. Maybe once you disappeared and didn't come back you were doomed. Maybe there wasn't anyway to be helped. And maybe soon Dean wouldn't be able to even hear him anymore, maybe soon he'd be all alone…all alone until he died.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

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**Project Eight**

Chapter twenty one

"Dead? How?" Dean swallowed the lump in his throat. If they were dead, did that mean Sam would soon be joining them?

"I…I don't know…They're just ….dead….Dean what about their families? They'll never know what happened to them….They'll never have a body to bury…"

Dean winced at Sam's words. Would that be true for him too?

"We can't worry about that right now Sam. We need to get that antidote in you as soon as possible." He didn't even want to think about what would happen if they didn't, all he cared about right now was finding the antidote. "Stay with me Sam." Dean said as he ran to the door and pounded on it.

It was finally opened by a woman who looked very annoyed that he had disturbed her.

"Are you Sarah Wylie?"

"Who wants to know?"

Dean assumed that meant yes.

"I think you have something I need."

"I don't know who you are or what you're talking about." She started to shut the door but Dean quickly stuck his foot in preventing her from closing it. She glared at him. "I suggest you leave right now or I'm calling the cops."

"Go ahead; they might be interested in knowing how you stole a formula from your former lover who is now dead."

"Dead? What are you talking about?"

"I know about Morris….I know you two had a thing going on and he broke it off. I know how you stole Morris's formula and tried to pin it on your husband. What I don't know is how you got Morris and his students to take the formula….Did you sneak it into something they were drinking?"

Dean's words hit close to home and Sarah tried once more to push the door shut, but this time Dean pushed his way into her house.

"You can't prove anything." She said backing up.

"Look, I don't care what went on between you, your husband, and Morris. But I do care about the antidote you stole. My brother has been infected with the formula and he needs it or he's going to die….just like Morris and his students."

"I didn't know…I didn't know it would kill them. They can't get me for murder because I didn't know…." She looked at him suspiciously. "How do I know you're not lying? How do I know they're really dead?"

"My brother saw the bodies."

"But how could he….If Morris's formula really worked they'd be invisible."

"Believe me it worked….and my brother saw them because he's invisible also."

She looked around her.

"He's here now?"

"Yeah….Say hi Sam."

"Hi." Sam's voice came out of the air next to her.

She backed away clearly frightened.

"So his formula really did work…. He told me it did but I didn't believe him. He was always working on it day and night, that's all he ever thought about… all he ever cared about…that damn formula of his."

"I don't care about all that. I just need the antidote."

"I don't have it."

"What do you mean you don't have it?"

"I poured the formula into the coffee in his office…that's how they all ended up taking it. I thought I'd prove to him that it didn't work….then I heard about the disappearances. I swear to God I didn't know."

"What do you mean you don't have the antidote?" Dean repeated his question.

"When I heard about the disappearances I…..I poured the antidote down the drain."

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

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**Project Eight**

Chapter twenty two

"You did what!" Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I poured it down the cellar drain."

He stood in stunned silence for a few seconds. If the antidote was gone his brother was doomed.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

"I wanted to get back at him. I broke up my home for him and all he cared about was his damn experiments."

"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted out in frustration then slammed his hand against the door. He had no idea what to do now.

"Dean it's okay." Sam voice spoke next to him. "You tried….there's nothing else we can do."

"There's got to be something." Dean thought for a few seconds then looked up at Sarah. "Do you mind if I look around?"

"For what?"

"It's not that I don't believe you but…"

"Dean…." Sam knew what his brother was doing, he couldn't accept the fact that they had failed and was holding onto any hope he could find. "Let's go."

"No Sam…" He looked at Sarah. "I asked you if you mind if I look around?"

Sarah didn't answer him but started toward the phone.

"I want you out of here." She said as she picked up the phone to call the police.

Dean grabbed her arm then took the phone and ripped it out of the wall.

"I'm searching this place with or without your permission."

"Dean stop it!" Sam said angrily. "It's over…let's go." Sam knew if Dean searched the house Sarah would call the cops after they left from either a cell phone or the neighbors. He knew that his brother was already wanted by the law for a murder he didn't commit and if the cops looked for fingerprints and found his they'd add another breaking and entering charge to his rap sheet. "Come on Dean let's go!" He knew if they left there would be no hope for him because they didn't have anywhere else to look, but if they didn't leave Dean would get in trouble, and he didn't want that. He figured he was a lost cause, but Dean could still get out of there before he got into trouble.

"I'm not going anywhere till I'm certain the antidote isn't here."

"And if it isn't, what are you going to do then Dean?... Morris is dead and he's the only one who knew how to make the formula….and it and the antidote died with him."

"Sam I'm not just going to give up. I'm not just going to walk away from the only lead we have…..If she has nothing to hide then there's no reason I can't take a little look around."

Dean walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. He then shuffled through the various bottles and containers hoping he'd find something, but he found nothing.

"Satisfied?" Sarah stood with her hands on her hips glaring at him.

Dean didn't answer her; instead he looked for a basement door. He knew a lot of people kept another refrigerator in the basement filled up with sodas or beer and hopefully she did too. He wasn't even sure if the antidote had to be refrigerated but at least it was a place to look.

"Where's the basement?" Dean noticed a hint of fear flash across her face when he mentioned basement.

"I want you out of here now!"

Dean ignored her and began looking around the first floor till he spotted a door in the den that led to the basement. He walked over, turned on the light at the top of the stairs, and started down the steps.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

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**Project Eight**

Chapter twenty three

. Once he was at the bottom of the steps Dean noticed a small refrigerator in the corner of the basement and walked over to it. Just like he thought it was loaded with sodas and beer. He moved the bottles around then was just about to slam the door shut in frustration.

"Dean." Sam's voice came from behind him. "In the back …lying on its side…."

Dean began taking bottles out of the refrigerator and finally found a small test-tube filled with an orange liquid lying flat in the second to last row. He couldn't believe he had missed it. He carefully picked it up and saw P-8 written on its side.

"This is it." He said softly. He had no way of knowing for sure…but it had to be it.

"Dean look out!"

Sam's voice sounded far away and Dean remembered Corey's girlfriend saying that her boyfriend's voice got quieter and quieter till she couldn't hear him at all. He knew the same thing was happening to Sam and soon he wouldn't be able to hear him at all.

"Hold it right there!" Sarah's voice boomed behind him.

He turned toward her and noticed she held a small gun out in front of her.

"My brother needs this." Dean protectively covered the test-tube with his hand.

"Your brother is going to die, just like the others. And you…." She gave him a little triumphant smile. "The police report will read that you were shot in self defense. You broke into my house and tried to attack me. I had to shoot….I had no choice."

"What the hell do you want with it? The antidote's no good unless you have the original formula….Or do you have that also?"

"You are a smart one aren't you."

"What are you going to do with it?" When she didn't answer him he added. "You're going to kill me anyway so what does it matter if you tell me?"

"I guess you deserve to know before you die. I'm selling them both to the highest bidder. If I can't sell it here there are other countries who I'm sure would be willing to give me top dollar for it."

"Do you have any idea what they could do with it, or don't you even care?" Dean couldn't believe this woman didn't seem to care who she sold the formula to as long as she got top dollar. "They could destroy the world as we know it. If that falls into the wrong hands civilization as we know it will end."

"Then let it end. … I'll have enough money to live anywhere in the world."

"How did you get so twisted? Don't you realize that if an enemy of the U.S. gets that they could come over here and wipe us out….Wipe out people you know…maybe even your family."

"I don't have family, all I have is me and that's who I'm looking out for." Sarah put out her hand. "Now give it to me."

"No way." Dean held the bottle out in front of him. "If you shoot me I'll drop the bottle and then neither of us will have it."

"And what about your brother?"

"If you take the bottle he's dead anyway, at least this way he'll die on my terms."

"Give it to me!" She raised the gun and pointed it at Dean. She knew she had to kill him and was willing to take the chance that if he dropped the test-tube she could get to it before it hit the ground.

Sam had silently watched the whole scene and then watched in horror as Sarah pulled back the hammer of the gun. He knew she was definitely going to shoot his brother.

"No!" He cried out as he instinctively stepped in front of Dean just as she fired. Dean heard his brother's shout, then the gun shot, then a little grunt of pain, then nothing. He looked down at himself expecting to see blood rushing from a bullet wound but there wasn't a mark on him. He could see the puzzled look on Sarah's face when she saw that he wasn't shot and he quickly reacted before she had time to fire again. He kicked the gun from her hand, but as the gun flew from her hand she grabbed for the test-tube and started struggling with him. The test tube was wet and he could feel it slipping from his grasp. He tried to hold on to it and get her off of him at the same time but she was strong and managed to knock the test-tube out of his hand. He watched in horror as it fell toward the floor. He managed to toss her aside and dove for it but she recovered quickly and jumped on top of him. He could hear the test-tube break into a million pieces beneath him spilling its contents over the floor.

"You bitch!" Dean screamed as he threw back his elbow and connected with her mouth. He then turned around and grabbed her and threw her across the room and into a wall. She hit the wall hard and lay crumbled at the bottom of it. He then frantically looked for any kind of container that he could use to gather up some of the liquid from the test-tube. Finally he found a small cup and went back to the broken test-tube but the liquid had mysteriously vanished and all that remained was the shattered glass. "Oh God no!" He cried out in despair. The antidote was gone and his brother was doomed. He turned in a circle desperately looking for some sign of Sam.

"Sam!...Sammy!..." Where was Sam? Had Sam somehow taken the bullet that was meant for him? And if he had, wouldn't the bullet have gone right through his brother and hit him? "Sammy answer me!" Could his brother be lying right in front of him injured or even dead? "Damn it Sammy answer me!" He shouted as tears filled his eyes. Would he ever see his brother again, or was he gone for good just like the professor and his students?

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

This is the last chapter. I want to thank all the people who took the time to review. I really appreciate it and I'm glad you liked the story…but I do apologize for the ending. I always start my stories with no idea where I want it to go and how I want it to end. Stupid huh? So anyway I just made up a quick ending because I was bored with this one and wanted to work on my next story. I hope the ending doesn't suck too badly.

**Project Eight**

Chapter twenty four

Sam lay on the floor in pain. He wasn't sure whether it was from the formula or from the bullet that he knew had to hit him since he had jumped right in front of the gun. But when he looked down at himself he could see there was no blood. The bullet must have hit him and then disappeared, because he knew if it had gone through him Dean would have been hit. He could hear Dean calling for him and tried to answer but Dean could no longer hear him. … So this was it he thought. All he could do now was wait to die. He remembered the bodies he had seen outside. Had the formula killed them or had they died from something else he wondered? He got up and walked over to Dean who was still calling out for him. He sounded so lost and alone and Sam tried to put his arm around him to comfort him but his arm went right through him. Sam was scared. He had seen the test-tube break and he knew without the antidote he was screwed. Was he going to be doomed to wander around unseen and unheard till he finally died? If there was no hope for him he wished he could quicken the process, he wished that bullet would have hit him and finished him off. He could clearly see the anguish on Dean's face as he continued calling out to him. It was so frustrating to be able to hear his brother but not to be able to answer him.

Dean began throwing the soda and beer bottles out of the refrigerator in frustration as he looked for test-tubes of the formula that he was now certain Sarah had. He prayed for a miracle that he might also find another tube of the antidote. He finally found a test-tube filled with blue liquid; more then likely the formula, but there were no other test–tubes filled with orange liquid. He carefully carried it up the steps and into the dining room, then flopped dejectedly into one of the chairs.

"Sammy? I don't know if you're here or not but….I'm sorry. … I screwed up…" He choked on the words. "It's all my fault." He wiped angrily at the tears that filled his eyes. If he hadn't dropped the antidote this would all be over with and his brother would be back.

**Later**

Dean sat in the dining room for hours just staring at the floor emotionally exhausted not knowing what to do. He didn't even bother to check on the condition of Sarah. She had probably caused the death of four men and maybe now even his brother. If she had been injured or even killed by being thrown against the wall so be it, he didn't care, all he cared about was Sam….and Sam was gone.

Sam sat next to his brother even though Dean didn't know it. He was actually more worried about Dean then he was about himself. What would happen to his brother? Who would watch his back? Seeing Dean's despair was tearing Sam apart because there was no way for him to comfort him.

Finally Dean got up and walked outside. He slowly made his way over to the car. The only thing he could think of was to go back to the motel and go over the journal again, but the thought of it depressed him. Most of it was unreadable unless you understood all the scribbled equations in it. He knew reading the journal would get him no where but there was nothing else he could think of to do.

"Are you with me Sam?" He asked as he climbed into the car then swallowed hard when he was only met by silence.

"I'm right here Dean." Sam said as he took his place next to his brother in the passenger's seat. He glanced over at the four bodies lying on the lawn then quickly turned his eyes away. They were dead and there was nothing he could do for them.

Dean started the car, and then with tears filling his eyes drove off. After driving for awhile he finally past the college where Morris had worked. He stopped at a red light and stared at the building where Morris had his lab. It had all started there with a little piece of broken glass and a blue liquid. Angry, hurt, and frustrated he floored the accelerator and sped through the red light. Maybe Bobby could help he thought. But even as the thought crossed his mind he knew it was a long shot. This was just a freak thing and he knew Bobby would be as lost as he was on what to do.

**Later at the motel**

Dean sat on a chair drinking a beer as he read the journal over and over trying to make some sense out of it. He had called Bobby on the drive back and told him what was happening but Bobby had no answers for him. It was just a fluke experiment and any answers died with the professor. Bobby had asked if Dean wanted him to come out but Dean told him no….there was nothing he could do and right now he'd rather be alone. Finally totally broken and frustrated he took his beer and threw it against the wall, then stood in front of it as he watched the beer run down the wall.

"Hey, next time you drive through a red light at least give me time to get out of the car."

Dean stood staring at the wall…the voice sounded like Sam's, but it couldn't be. Now he was hearing things he thought as he started to turn around. … But there standing in front of him was Sam, a big smile on his face.

"Sam?" Dean couldn't believe his eyes. "Sammy!... What?...How?..." He grabbed Sam and pulled him into a big hug. Then embarrassed by his show of emotion he released him and stepped back to look at him. "What happened? How did you manage to come back?... Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine…In fact I actually feel pretty good…I'm not coughing up blood anymore."

"You stepped in front of the bullet didn't you?….I thought you were dead.."

"Yeah I thought I was too but…." Sam threw his hands out to the side and smiled. "I'm fine…the bullet must have dissolved or something when it hit me."

"What happened? How did you make it back?"

"I was with you in the car and when we drove by the college I remembered reading in the journal that Morris was working on making another batch of the antidote when he disappeared. So I figured why not take another look, maybe Wylie's wife didn't get it all. So when you stopped at the light I jumped out and went back to Morris's lab. We didn't get much time to look before because the security guard showed up, but since no one could see me I had all the time in the world."

"So you found more antidote?...But how did you take it?"

"There was that small problem. … I wasn't sure what to do. I saw the refrigerator in his closet and I could walk right through it and see what was inside. And there it was, sitting right in front of me. I just stood there and kept trying to pick it up, but my hand kept going through the test-tube. For some reason the tube wasn't corked and some how, and don't ask me how, I must have absorbed some of the antidote by osmosis or something because all of a sudden I had this strange sensation and when I looked down at myself I was slowly reappearing and the antidote was slowly disappearing. I can't explain it but…. all I know is that I'm back." Sam reached in his pocket and removed the test-tube now corked and half empty. "I'm hoping this is the last of it."

Dean reached in his jacket pocket and took out the test-tube he had taken from Sarah's house.

"I say we destroy both of these before someone else gets their hands on them."

"I couldn't agree with you more."

They walked into the bathroom and over to the sink. Dean put the plug in the sink and they poured both the formula and the antidote into it turning the combined liquids purple. A few seconds later a white mist came out of the sink and they both took a step backwards. But a few seconds later the purple liquid and the mist vanished into nothing.

"Well that should take care of it." Dean smiled finally able to relax now that he had his brother back.

"Let's hope so." Sam looked over at Dean. "I wish we could have helped the professor and his students. … Four people are dead….and for what?" He said sadly.

"They're dead because of some bitch's vengeance on her lover and her husband." Dean said what they both already knew. "A human killed those people, not anything supernatural which makes it even worse. She had the antidote all along and could have saved them. I guess we'll never know why they died…maybe the formula eventually kills if the antidote isn't given soon enough. …But hopefully now that all of the formula and the antidote are gone no one else will suffer …. All we got to do now is destroy Morris's journal so no one else gets there hands on it." Dean could see that his brother was still upset that they hadn't been able to save the professor or his students. He knew his brother was more sensitive then he was. He was sad too, but it was what it was and there was nothing they could do about it. He reached over and put his hand on his brother's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's too bad Sam but we can't save them all, all we can do is keep trying." He then gave his brother a pat on the back trying to get him out of his depressed mood. "Hey … what do you say we go get a nice meal somewhere to celebrate your return?"

Sam shook his head and gave a small smile, _Dean…always thinking about food_. He knew what his brother said was true, they couldn't save them all, but it still hurt like hell when they failed.

"You buying?"

"Flip you for it." Dean took a quarter out of his pocket and flipped it in the air. "Heads I buy…tails you buy."

**Wylie's house**

Wylie removed a brick from his fireplace then reached inside and pulled out two small thermoses. He carefully opened them and looked inside. He took a small flashlight out of his pocket and shined the light into the dark bottles. He smiled when he saw the orange and blue liquids shimmering in the light. One day he would sell them to the highest bidder but for now he had to keep them safe. He had to wait till he was sure the two men didn't return. He gently placed them back into the fireplace and replaced the brick. He poured himself a drink then sat down and began grading papers. Soon he wouldn't have to work, soon he'd be famous he thought as he looked over at the fireplace and smiled. And poor Sarah…she had no idea that he still had some of the formula and antidote left. He had let her steal some of it from him in order to set her up so if anyone came looking for it she'd take the blame…and he had succeeded in doing that. Whatever became of her or her lover and students he didn't care, for now on he was looking out only for himself. He leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes daydreaming about what he would do with all the money he was going to make. He smiled to himself…yeah life was good and it was only going to get better.

The End


End file.
